Tankleff, finally free of charges, calls for reforms

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Posted: July 25, 2008 12:17 PM

Marty Tankleff was released from a New York prison in December, but it took until this week for charges against him to be officially dropped. On his second day as an officially free man, he told to a group of attorneys on Long Island yesterday about the dangers of false confessions and critical reforms to prevent them.

"For 20 years, in my case, there have been two competing versions of what took place in the interrogation room," Tankleff told the audience, going on to speak about the importance of videotaping complete interrogations so juries can see the facts for themselves.

Tankleff, who woke up one morning in 1988 in the Long Island home he shared with his parents to find his mother dead and his father unconscious, allegedly told police he may have “blacked out” and committed the crimes. His father later died in the hospital, and Tankleff, 17, was convicted of the murdersand sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. He served 17 years before his release in December.